1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed is an animal training system which conditions an animal to remain in a confined area without crossing a predetermined border.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known that animals respond to stimuli restricting mobility. As a result, electric fences have been widely employed Variations on such fences have included U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,311 to Fagen which teaches a system for switching on a high voltage pulse of limited duration to an electric fence after passage of a low voltage sensing current to ground. U.S. Pat. No. 2,555,180 to Adkins teaches an electric cattle guard or gateless gap in which a plurality of wires is placed laterally across a pad which is flush with the road. The wires are spaced in parallel relation and at opposite ends are secured to electric conducting bars connected to the fence wires. Animals passing through this gateless gap are shocked while rubber wheeled vehicles pass through safely. U.S. Pat. No. 796,241 to McNair teaches an interdigital array of fence wires U.S. Pat. No. 3,182,111 to Marateuch et al teaches the use of a low voltage source and an amplifier triggering a high potential generator only during periods of contact with the fence.
The Russian physiologist I. V. Pavlov discovered that if a first stimulus produces a reaction in an animal and the animal then experiences the first stimulus with a second stimulus, eventually the second stimulus alone will produce the same reaction when the first stimulus is absent. U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,293 to Gonda et al discloses a dog training collar which emits a characteristic sound whenever the dog barks and occasionally accompanies the sound with a light electrical shock to condition the dog to dislike the sound more than otherwise Gonda et al 4,335,682 teaches use of an additional sound prior to the onset of the aversive electrical stimulation to become a conditioned warning stimulus to the animal. Eventually, the electrical stimulation need not be used to control the animal's behavior. None of the systems disclosed uses a visual stimulus to control passage of an animal.